Local restaurant offers live music, dancing

Published: Saturday, January 26, 2013 at 05:29 PM.

“Sometimes when we’re short (on help), I get up and help cook,” said Sara Maksion. “Other times, I’m out here with the customers and I’ll get up and dance with them.”

Tuesday is gospel music night at Country Kitchen. Bluegrass performers from around the region come to play on Thursday nights. On Fridays, diners wanting to entertain sing karaoke to CD tracks.

Saturday nights brings various types of live music. Musicians play two-hour sets, most of the time starting around 6 p.m.

Musicians get their shot in an old-fashioned way. They’ll send tapes through the U.S. mail to Jerry Maksion at the restaurant. He listens to the music, and then he’ll call up the performer if he wants them to perform in his restaurant’s dining room.

Musicians get paid through a tip bucket that circulates from table-to-table.

Bluegrass band Blue Haze entertained diners on Thursday. Jerry and Sara Maksion visited diners at their tables to make sure everyone enjoyed their meals.

Country Kitchen features homemade food, with hand-patted beef with chili and slaw among the most popular menu items. Iced tea pitchers sit atop tables and people walk around greeting friends. Customers pay no cover charge for the nightly music performances.

Some Country Kitchen diners arrive at the Dallas restaurant with a pair of clogging shoes tucked under their arms.

For six years now, the local eating establishment has been known as a place where people can go to kick back, grab a bite to eat and enjoy live music.

Musicians from genres including bluegrass and gospel, along with karaoke singers, share space with diners, while leaving plenty of room for dancing if the mood strikes.

And that’s known to happen quite often.

While owners Jerry and Sara Maksion satisfy appetites with a host of home-style vittles from salmon patties to baked chicken, spaghetti to meatloaf, some say the restaurant’s biggest draw may be its family atmosphere.

“They dance in here,” said Sara Maksion.

On Thursday night, Sara Maksion sat at a table surrounded by diners tapping their toes to the sounds of a banjo. She described an infectious atmosphere when things get humming.

“Sometimes when we’re short (on help), I get up and help cook,” said Sara Maksion. “Other times, I’m out here with the customers and I’ll get up and dance with them.”

Tuesday is gospel music night at Country Kitchen. Bluegrass performers from around the region come to play on Thursday nights. On Fridays, diners wanting to entertain sing karaoke to CD tracks.

Saturday nights brings various types of live music. Musicians play two-hour sets, most of the time starting around 6 p.m.

Musicians get their shot in an old-fashioned way. They’ll send tapes through the U.S. mail to Jerry Maksion at the restaurant. He listens to the music, and then he’ll call up the performer if he wants them to perform in his restaurant’s dining room.

Musicians get paid through a tip bucket that circulates from table-to-table.

Bluegrass band Blue Haze entertained diners on Thursday. Jerry and Sara Maksion visited diners at their tables to make sure everyone enjoyed their meals.

Country Kitchen features homemade food, with hand-patted beef with chili and slaw among the most popular menu items. Iced tea pitchers sit atop tables and people walk around greeting friends. Customers pay no cover charge for the nightly music performances.

“These people in here are like family… one big, happy family,” said Patty Plemmons of McAdenville. “They feel a lot like your brothers and sisters. Everybody’s friendly.”

Country Kitchen may be a place where the customers and the owners feel the same about one another.

“They just love us to death and we love them,” Sara Maksion said. “They come in and hug us, and then hug us when they leave. It’s like a big family.”

Gazette reporter Wade Allen can be reached at 704-869-1828; twitter.com/gazettewade.